Conveyor structures employing flexible wire cables are well known in the art including flexible wire cables coated with a plastic resinous coating, such as nylon.
However, one of the problems which has been experienced in the use of such prior coated flexible wire cables coated with a flexible plastic resinous coating, such as nylon, has been the problem of attaching the conveyor flights to the coated flexible wire cable or cables without damaging the coating on the flexible coated wire cable while, at the same time, providing an adequate grip of the flight-attaching and supporting means for the conveyor flights on the coated flexible wire cable without slipping . The present invention is directed to a solution of and overcomes this and related problems.
Conveyor structures have likewise been known and used heretofore which embody conveyor flights molded of plastic resinous material and with the molded plastic resinous flights interconnected and driven by sprocket chains, or the like. However, one of the problems which have been encountered in the use of such prior conveyor structures embodying molded plastic resinous conveyor flights and chain drives therefor is that, because of their great weight and resulting shipping expense, such prior conveyor structures are limited in use to relatively short lengths such, for example, as 20 feet, as well as in the overall size thereof, including the width and length of the individual conveyor flights. In addition, it has been found that in the use of such prior conveyor structures the sprocket chain drives tend to wear out unduly the molded plastic resinous flights with resultant relatively short useful or working life of such conveyor structures.